Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00010089Mercury and Argus in a Landscape
About the Artwork
This painting depicts a scene from ancient myth. The queen of the gods, Juno, jealous of her husband Jupiter's affair with Io, changed the mortal woman into a cow. Juno then ordered Argus - a giant with many eyes - to watch over Io constantly. In response, Zeus sent Mercury, the god of deception, to free Io. Mercury lulled Argus to sleep by playing the flute, then killed him and released the cow. The artist set the scene in a landscape with classical ruins. The expansive vista belongs to an earlier tradition that evokes the immenseness of the world through panoramic views, offering the suggestion of boundless space.
Provenance
(Colnaghi, London, 1967). Severance and Greta Millikin, Cleveland, upon his death, by inheritance to Greta Millikin. Greta Millikin, upon her death, held in trust by the estate, Estate of Greta Millikin, by bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1989.
Exhibition history
The Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 5-September 2, 1990).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Dirck van der Lisse (Dutch, 1669)
- Date
- c. 1635
- Medium
- oil on copper
- Dimensions
- Framed: 62 x 79 x 7 cm (24 7/16 x 31 1/8 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 37 x 49.2 cm (14 9/16 x 19 3/8 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Bequest of Mrs. Severance A. Millikin
- Accession no.
- 1989.248
Open-access museum record · AT-00010089
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